Kazakh tennis player Sonya Zhiyenbayeva has made a meteoric rise in the WTA rankings, jumping 288 places. Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina, the world No. 2, has narrowed the gap to leader Aryna Sabalenka to 354 points, according to infohub.kz.
The 20-year-old Zhiyenbayeva, who previously played for Germany's junior team (her father is German), impressed fans with her spirited performance for Kazakhstan in April's Billie Jean King Cup tie in Astana. She gave Canadian leader Bianca Andreescu a tough challenge, influencing the outcome of the match.
Last week, Zhiyenbayeva won the W75 tournament in Ourense, Spain. That success lifted her from 738th to 450th in the rankings, making her the third-ranked Kazakh player, behind only Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva.
Kazakhstan's top female player, Elena Rybakina, lost in the final of the WTA 1000 event in Toronto to Poland's Iga Swiatek overnight. As runner-up in Canada, Rybakina closed in on Aryna Sabalenka, who tops the rankings. They are now separated by 354 points. The winner of the upcoming WTA tournament in Cincinnati will earn 1,000 ranking points.
In the second round in Cincinnati, Rybakina, seeded second, will face American Taylor Townsend (world No. 110). Sabalenka will meet either Austrian Lilly Tagger (44) or Australian Talia Gibson (65) in her opener.
Yulia Putintseva's first opponent is Russian Liudmila Samsonova (55), who lost to Rybakina in the fourth round in Toronto. The winner of that Kazakhstan-Russia clash will face American Coco Gauff (4), another of Rybakina's victims at the Canadian Open.
Interestingly, in 2024 Putintseva reached the Cincinnati final, albeit in doubles. Partnering with Canada's Leylah Fernandez, she lost to the American-New Zealand duo of Asia Muhammad and Erin Routliffe 6-3, 1-6, 4-10.
The women's doubles draw for the 2026 Cincinnati Open has not yet been released.
Kazakhstan will not be represented in the men's singles. Alexander Bublik (11) decided to skip the tournament, and Alexander Shevchenko (89) failed to qualify. In the first qualifying round, the Rostov native beat Spain's Pablo Llamas Ruiz (130) 6-3, 6-4, but then lost to Australia's Christopher O'Connell (129) 4-6, 1-6.
The current WTA-1000 Cincinnati Open is the 80th edition. The oldest tournament in the United States has never changed its venue. The event is held on outdoor hard courts in Mason, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio.
The prize money for the men's 2026 Cincinnati Open is $9.41 million, and for the women's it is $7.43 million.
Over the years, the men's title has been won by Americans Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi, as well as Swedes Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg, Czech Ivan Lendl, German Boris Becker, Swiss Roger Federer, Spaniard Rafael Nadal, and Serbian Novak Djokovic. The women's champions list is equally impressive, including Americans Lindsay Davenport and Serena Williams, Belgian Kim Clijsters, Russian Maria Sharapova, and others.
The defending champion in Cincinnati is Iga Swiatek. In the 2025 semifinals, the Pole beat Rybakina 7-5, 6-3, and then defeated Italy's Jasmine Paolini 7-5, 6-4 in the final.